i would appreciate opinions on housing 2 boas together. I have only 1 tank at present and had a single boa who is around 2 years old. He is very docile and was hand-reared. I have just taken in a 2nd boa i rescued which is around 9 months old. An article i read emphasised 2 boas can never be kept together! They seem to get along fine. ?It has been 3 days now. Will they be ok together?

It is never a good idea but you have two things going for you, first the age of the new boa and both being boys. You will have a problem feeding them. you will need to separate them when feeding or they will fight over the food. I have had male and female fight and rip the mouse in half then grab each other. Get two sterilite tubs and pull both snakes out and feed separately in the tubs. That way the tank they are in will not be associated with food.

Could you recommend what i should always have available for scratches and small wounds on my snakes? Please note i live in South Africa so certain medications may have different names so the key ingredient is important. thanks

Boas tend to be the easiest species of snake to keep together because they're so docile and laid back and they generally don't care about much. Just as long as the size difference isn't too great between them, but as Denny said, you can never feed them in the enclosure while they're together. Put them BOTH in separate tubs to be fed, don't just leave one in the tank and put one in a tub because the one left in the tank may associate you putting the other one in as food. However, since these are going to be very big animals, soon enough they will need their own spaces because one tank will get to be way too small for the both of them.

Neosporin is good to put on snake cuts and bites. It won't hurt the snake at all, just make sure it doesn't get dirty and infected. The active ingredient in Neosporin is Neomycin

As i said earlier I have just taken in a rescued 9 month old red tail. I have now learnt it was housed in a cage with a wire mesh front. How on earth this could retain consistent heat or humidity is beyond me! I have had "her" for 4 days and she is very aggressive and bites repeatedly. What steps are recommended for her rehabilitation? Will her attitude rub off on my 2 year old boa who is very docile and has never even tried to bite? I have not witnessed any aggression from her towards him.

Leave her alone...she is stressed. download a copy of the care sheet and read it over. New snakes added to your home need a week to calm down. Cover the enclosure and let her get used to her new environment. Don't even peek in!

Yeah, what Denny said. Snakes need down time to get used to things after being moved into a new home. After that, she'll probably still be aggressive, especially if she's a rescue ((Though I don't know her story, so who knows?)). You just have to be patient and keep handling her. You can use gloves if you feel uncomfortable, but I can promise you that boa bites are the least painful of snake bites lol. They feel like cat scratches. And no, her behaviour won't rub off on your boa. Not unless you completely neglect to hold him, and then it might not still. All snakes are different. I can rarely hold my own anymore and I feel bad for it, but I know the ones that won't mind not being held for a while already and as long as they're still getting fed, they're happy.

Thanks for the advice. It is very difficult to just cover and leave her. As i said they share a tank and she needs feeding as she is underfed. She is getting better by the day (slowly). I am relieved to hear the bite is not that painfull as its inevitable from her. I will still be weary as my big boy of 2 years has never even struck at me let alone bite me. Please could you guide me how to start a new thread as i am putting all my queries under the same theme?

Greg, all you have to do it go to the main board where you can see the different discussion threads. There is a link to click on underneath them that says "Start New Thread" or something along those lines. Then under the "Title" you put what you will want the thread title to be. Really simple.
And yes, my Lucy is a red-tailed boa and she has gotten me twice before I figured out to use tongs when feeding her. LOL. It's a little pin prick, more shocking than anything else. No biggie. It didn't even bleed put one drop then closed right up.